The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness

Essays exploring politics and place, written with the lyricism of a poet and the wisdom of a modern-day sage

The incomparable Rebecca Solnit, author of more than a dozen acclaimed, prizewinning books of nonfiction, brings her dazzling writing to the essays in Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness. As the title suggests, the territory of Solnit’s concerns is vast, and in her signature alchemical style she combines commentary on history, justice, war and peace, and explorations of place, art, and community, all while writing with the lyricism of a poet to achieve incandescence and wisdom.

Gathered here are celebrated iconic essays along with little-known pieces that create a powerful survey of the world we live in, from the jungles of the Zapatistas in Mexico to the splendors of the Arctic. This rich collection tours places as diverse as Haiti and Iceland; movements like Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring; an original take on the question of who did Henry David Thoreau’s laundry; and a searching look at what the hatred of country music really means.

Solnit moves nimbly from Orwell to Elvis, to contemporary urban gardening to 1970s California macramé and punk rock, and on to searing questions about the environment, freedom, family, class, work, and friendship. It’s no wonder she’s been compared in BookForum to Susan Sontag and Annie Dillard and in the San Francisco Chronicle to Joan Didion.

The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness proves Solnit worthy of the accolades and honors she’s received. Rarely can a reader find such penetrating critiques of our time and its failures leavened with such generous heapings of hope. Solnit looks to history and the progress of political movements to find an antidote to despair in what many feel are lost causes. In its encyclopedic reach and its generous compassion, Solnit’s collection charts a way through the thickets of our complex social and political worlds. Her essays are a beacon for readers looking for alternative ideas in these imperiled times.

Accolades

Designated as High Country News - Best Picks for Fall 2014

Designated as One of 57 Books to Read in Fall 2014 by New York Magazine

Designated as Best Nonfiction of 2014 by Powell's Books

Designated as One of Ten Titles to Pick Up Now by Oprah Magazine

Designated as Best Book of 2014 by Houston Chronicle

Designated as Editor's Choice by The New York Times Book Review

Designated as Finalist Foreword Review's INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards

Designated as Foreword Reviews' 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Honorable Mention Essays

Winner of Northern California Book Award - Creative Nonfiction

Praise

“Solnit has been compared to both Susan Sontag and Annie Dillard, though her writing is more lyrical and oblique than Sontag’s and her engagement with nature more overtly political than Dillard’s.”

“Insights that are acute and meaningful.... [It] leads to a different, more layered understanding of the world around us.”
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— Utne Reader

“The 29 essays that make up Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness are global in their reach, combining meditations on history, politics, science, art, literature, climate change and natural disasters, and take us from the snowy tundra of the Arctic to the carnival-filled streets of New Orleans.”
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“Solnit has a formidable intellect, rapacious curiosity, and the writing chops to join together disparate subjects in sophisticated, entertaining arguments about modern society.”
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— Powell's Books

“It's sort of an encyclopedia and sort of isn't. It's really an anthology disguised as an encyclopedia. But no matter what label you attach to it, the important thing to remember about this book is that it was written by Rebecca Solnit, one of the best nonfiction writers working today.”
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— Chicago Tribune

“Her writing takes wing . . . carrying us on a flight that crosses a landscape of sadness, of happiness, through consciousness, desire—what can only be described as a healing enlargement of one's soul—and toward beauty.”

“What to call a journalist who writes about place while avoiding the subjects of luxury hotels, remote restaurants and urbane oddities? Not a travel writer, surely. And not an adventurer. One could do worse than answer with "Rebecca Solnit".”
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— New York Times Book Review

“Solnit's signature blend of history, science, justice, and the personal illustrates each location just as she finds it, with a sense of specificity, sensitivity, and empathy.”
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San Francisco writer Rebecca Solnit is the author of thirteen books about art, landscape, public and collective life, ecology, politics, hope, meandering, reverie, and memory. They include Men Explain Things To Me, The Faraway Nearby; Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas; A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities ThatArise in Disaster; Storming the Gates of Paradise; A Field Guide to Getting Lost; Hope in the Dark: UntoldHistories, Wild Possibilities; Wanderlust: A History of...